As he got closer, he noticed Olivia was with a group. He recognized her friend Chloe from the office, but he’d never seen the men before. Olivia laughed at something the blond one said and rested her hand on his arm. His blood ran cold. Who the hell was this guy, and why was she touching him? They looked awfully friendly, and the significance wasn’t lost on Cole. He had the sudden, inexplicable urge to punch a man he’d never even met.
He scanned the sea of bodies, searching for a familiar face. He smiled when Gabby appeared in front of him. If anyone would know who Olivia was talking to, it would be Gabby. Pritchard’s assistant had her finger on the gossip pulse of the whole agency.
“Evening, Gabby.” Cole nodded his head politely. “This is some party, huh?”
“If you like this sort of thing.” She smiled and took a sip of her wine. “Which I don’t.”
He laughed quietly. “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he whispered. “I’m not a big fan either, but don’t tell Pritchard.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” she promised. Even in the low light, he could see she was blushing as a result of his attention. Gabby was rumored to be a gossip, but she seemed like a sweet girl, albeit one who was in way over her head at the office.
Cole glanced around casually. “Do you know who Olivia’s talking to? I don’t think I’ve met him yet,” he said, playing dumb. “I can’t recall seeing him around the office.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t have,” Gabby confirmed, happy to share her knowledge with the boss. “He doesn’t work at PBA. He’s Olivia’s date. Must be serious too, because she’s never brought a date to one of these things.”
A muscle in Cole’s jaw ticked as he ground his teeth together. She’d brought a date? Just a few days ago he was on his knees devouring her and here she was with a date? Flaunting it in his face?
“I guess there’s a first time for everything.” Gabby laughed. “Who knows? Maybe Olivia will finally get laid and loosen up a little.”
Cole leveled her with his eyes. “Excuse me.” Then he turned and stalked toward Olivia, with an emotion he couldn’t name twisting in his gut.
…
Olivia felt a familiar tingle low in her belly as her inner sex kitten roared to life. Cole. She’d hoped to avoid him this evening, keeping Alex at the edge of the crowd, but it seemed her luck had just run out. He was headed right toward them and closing in fast, the look on his face anything but friendly.
She summoned the most sincere smile she could and hoped for the best as Cole reached the edge of their little group.
“Cole, it’s so nice to see you.”
“Olivia. Chloe.” Cole nodded formally, his gaze settling on Alex. The hard set of his jaw was a stark contrast to the soft glow of the garden lights reflected in his dark gray eyes. He wore a black tux that Olivia was sure must have been tailor made. The cut of the jacket emphasized his broad shoulders and trim waist, doing little to distract her from the rock hard abs she knew lay beneath. The man had good genes, and the damn thing fit like a glove. “Lovely as always,” he continued. “And who are these lucky bastards?”
Olivia prayed for lightning, a black hole, or even a good old fashioned fainting spell—anything to escape. Chloe on the other hand, relished the opportunity to introduce their dates, completely oblivious to Olivia’s growing horror and the dangerous edge to Cole’s anything-but-innocent question.
“They are lucky, aren’t they?” Chloe gushed, waving her glass. “This is Kyle,” she poked her date in the ribs with her free hand, “and that Ken doll over there is Alex.”
Olivia searched the heavens. This had to be a friggin’ cosmic joke. Chloe needed to be cut off—STAT. And, really, didn’t she have enough problems already without adding a tipsy BFF to the mix? Before she could come up with anything intelligent to redirect the conversation, Chloe babbled on.
“Aren’t they adorable?” Chloe flashed Cole a thousand watt smile, daring him to disagree. “Just like a real live Barbie and Ken, right?”
Olivia’s cheeks flamed. She was going to kill Chloe. To his credit, Alex rolled with the introduction as if being compared to a plastic, sexless doll were an everyday occurrence. He extended his hand to Cole with as much dignity as possible and gave a firm shake.
“Alex, this is Cole Bennett,” she explained, “my boss.”
“Nice to meet you.”
God, Alex was a good sport. She mentally gave him bonus points for that alone.
“Likewise,” Cole agreed. His tone was friendly, but his eyes were ice as he addressed Alex. “And what do you do, Alex? I know you’re not in advertising, because I don’t recognize you.”
“Oh, do you know everyone in the business?” Alex asked, ignoring Cole’s blatant dig.
“Job hazard, I’m afraid.” Cole shrugged, ratcheting the tension up a few more notches. “When you own a company as big as PBA, it pays to keep an eye on all the little guys.”
“I’m sure it does.” Alex bristled. Olivia didn’t blame him. She was thinking about kicking Cole in the shin herself just to put an end to the pissing match. “I actually work on Wall Street,” Alex explained.
Olivia took a gulp of her wine. If ever someone were going to drop a house on her, now would be the time.
“Really?” Cole asked, clapping Alex on the back. “I didn’t think there was much money in stocks these days. Last I heard, the country was in a recession.”
“I do all right,” Alex replied, shrugging off Cole’s hand. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were hard. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. Olivia prayed for rain, lots and lots of rain. “But truth be told, I tend to focus on the important things in life, like enjoying the company of this beautiful woman right here.”
Just when she thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, Alex slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close and boldly staking his claim.
“Some guys just have all the luck,” Chloe explained, goading Cole with a smirk. Thankfully, Kyle took the opportunity to grab her empty wineglass. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Olivia couldn’t blame him. She was debating the merits of a cut and run herself. Maybe they could share a cab. “Lucky in life and lucky in love,” Chloe giggled in a singsong voice.
“So it would seem. It is nice to see Olivia getting out and having a little fun for a change.” Cole smirked, looking her over from head to toe. Heat tore through Olivia, her hammering heart pumping molten lava through her veins as if Cole had touched her physically. “You are having fun, aren’t you Olivia?”
“Of course,” Olivia returned through clenched teeth. She wasn’t big into daydreams, but even if she’d harbored fantasies about two men fighting over her, it wouldn’t have been like this! She gave Cole an insincere smile. “It’s such a wonderful cause. But we’ve taken up enough of your time this evening, Cole. We don’t want to keep you from the other guests. After all, who are we to deprive all these lovely ladies of your company?”
She turned her back to him and steered Alex toward the nearest waiter holding champagne. Ignoring etiquette entirely, she grabbed two and downed them both, replacing the empty glasses on the tray. To his credit, the waiter seemed completely unfazed. She guessed there was probably a lot of someone-I-stupidly-slept-with-on-a-dare-just-completely-embarrassed-me-in-public drinking at these things. As the champagne warmed her from the inside out, she began to relax a little.
Until she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned to see Lexie, a junior associate on her team, beaming at her. “Olivia! I thought it was you! You look soooo pretty.” Her words were slurring a little bit. “Oh my gosh, who’s the cutie you’re with?” She ran her eyes up and down Alex with a connoisseur’s glance.
Olivia smiled wearily. “Lexie, Alex. He works on Wall Street. Alex, Lexie. She’s a junior associate at my agency.”
Lexie giggled. She had clearly been hitting the free champagne hard. “I’m totally surprised you’re not here with Cole,” she stag
e-whispered, winking conspiratorially at Olivia. “Everyone at the office was betting you were a thing.” She glanced at Alex. “Oops, sorry.”
Olivia shot Lexie a killer glare. “No,” she said vehemently. “My boss Cole Bennett and I are not a thing. We have never been a thing. We will never be a thing.”
She realized too late that Cole was standing right behind her.
Chapter Fifteen
Olivia excused herself under the pretense of finding the ladies’ room and made a beeline for the house. She didn’t actually need to use the bathroom, but Cole had ducked inside not five minutes earlier and she had every intention of hunting him down. What she was going to do when she found him, she had no idea. Suffice it to say, he was going to get a very explicit piece of her mind and she didn’t care who heard. In fact, the more the merrier. A public ass chewing would do wonders for his overinflated ego. Hell, it was a wonder his head fit through the damn door in the first place!
He’d been a complete jerk to Alex, throwing his money around and acting like a total prick. And for what? What was his problem anyway? He had a crap-ton of money, an infinite supply of gorgeous women, and Olivia’s dream job. What more did he want? Couldn’t he just butt out of her life already?
Olivia stalked up the stone steps and twisted the knob on the front door. She pushed the shiny black monstrosity wide open and let herself into the grand foyer without hesitating. A blast of frigid air met her at the door, raising goose bumps on her forearms. The pungent scent of fresh cut flowers wafted through the open space, rolling off the largest arrangement of purple orchids she had ever seen. Above, an antique crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting twinkling lights across the marble floor. A wide, curving staircase opened in front of her with narrow halls branching off to the left and right. The place felt more like a hotel lobby than a residence. The only thing missing was an English butler. Old money at its finest. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. There was no way she’d ever live in a place like this.
Looking around, she decided to try the hall on the right. He couldn’t have gone far and the sound of bustling caterers carried from the back of the house. Besides, she hoped it would be warmer in the kitchen with the ovens running.
Making her way down the hall, she rubbed her arms to chase away the chill. She squeezed past a slight girl with a tray full of hors d’oeuvres that smelled heavenly. Her stomach grumbled in protest, but she forged on without a backward glance. She was a woman on a mission.
Olivia crept into the kitchen, doing her best to stay out of the way. The room was in chaos with shouted orders, banging pans, and the roar of the gas stovetop. If she had any interest in the culinary arts, she might’ve envied the kitchen, but as it was, she could barely scramble an egg, so the expansive kitchen was nothing more than an irritation as she moved among the warming trays that had been jammed into every open corner. She skirted the sous chef and muttered in frustration.
Where the hell was Cole?
“Looking for someone?”
Olivia whipped around to find him standing behind her, leaning on an unmarked door and looking irritatingly sexy.
“As a matter of fact—” she started. Before she could finish, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the door, which turned out to lead to a dimly lit pantry the size of her apartment.
The pantry walls were lined floor to ceiling with shelves, and there were three little aisles created by additional rows of shelving, all of which were fully stocked. These people either did a hell of a lot of entertaining or they were preparing for the apocalypse. There was enough food stashed away to feed a third world country. What a waste.
Cole shut the door, sealing them inside the dank stone pantry. The door clicked shut with a resounding echo, and all thoughts of world hunger dropped from her consciousness.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked, planting a hand on her hip and taking the offensive. He was not getting off the hook this time.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” he asked, his brows knit together in disbelief. He took a step forward and Olivia’s heart fluttered. She was determined to hold her ground, although the urge to retreat was growing—fast. The pantry might be ridiculously large, but it wasn’t big enough for the two of them. She shouldn’t be this close to Cole, not alone, not even when she was pissed beyond belief. It was too dangerous, since she had yet to find a cure for I-hate-you-but-I-want-to-fuck-your-brains-out-itis. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” she asked, fighting to control her anger and hoping the noise of the kitchen would mask their words. She was having second thoughts about the whole ‘the more the merrier’ notion. The last thing she needed was a rumor about another knockdown-drag-out with Cole getting around the office. She’d been the subject of enough office gossip to last a lifetime, thank you very much.
“Hey, I’m not the one who brought the douchebag.” Cole cocked his hip and leaned into one of the metal racks looking self-satisfied at his little joke.
He was being a complete ass, but damned if he didn’t look good with those dark waves spilling over his forehead. He studied her, his eyes churning with anger…or maybe amusement? Olivia couldn’t identify the emotion, just as she couldn’t be sure if it was lust or rage causing her own heart to beat spastically in her chest. She told herself it was anger. It had to be. Her traitorous heart definitely wasn’t thinking about all of the delicious things he could do with that mouth of his.
That would just be wrong.
“The only douchebag out there was you,” she spat, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. “What do you care anyway? You’re not my boyfriend. In case you forgot, the only thing going on between you and me is crazy monkey sex.”
Cole pushed off the rack. He was on her in a flash, trapping her between his powerful arms, his hands braced against the shelves behind her. “You made that perfectly clear out there,” he growled. His gray eyes were smoldering under his lashes. Her pulse skyrocketed. “We’re definitely not a thing, right?”
“You don’t get to have it both ways,” Olivia said, raising her chin defiantly. “You don’t get to say we’ll just have sex, no strings attached, no emotional involvement, and then be a total possessive jackass to the only date I’ve had in years.”
Cole shot her a dark look and snorted. “Who, Wall Street? You can do better than that, Olivia.”
“Did you even hear what people were saying? I told you not to tell anyone. I told you they’d find out. I told you…” Olivia trailed off, unable to finish due to the sudden rock in her throat.
Cole shook his head. He dropped his arms and she could breathe again. He stepped away, turning his back to her as he walked the length of the pantry. She couldn’t read his mind, but his body language spoke volumes as he laced his fingers behind his head. He was clearly struggling. With what exactly, she didn’t know.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Cole said. “But it doesn’t matter what they think.”
“Doesn’t matter to who?” Olivia snapped. “Because it sure as hell matters to me. I don’t know how you ended up so fancy that you could just swoop in and steal my partnership and have nothing matter to you, but I worked my way to where I am. I have fought for years against jerks who said I was just a pretty face and a hot ass that slept her way up the corporate ladder.” Olivia paused to take a deep breath, her heart hammering against her ribcage. “And now, thanks to you, everyone is, once again, saying I’ve fucked my way to the top.”
“I can tell them—”
“No,” Olivia said emphatically. “You’ve said more than enough. I don’t need you to defend my reputation. I need you to get the hell out of my head.”
“This thing between us, it’s not going away. I’m not going away.” He closed the distance between them, leaving only inches between their bodies. Tension crackled in the air, an undeniable reminder of their explosive chemistry. “We’re so good together, Olivia. We shouldn’t let a bunch of ignorant gossips s
crew it up.”
He stroked her cheek, his eyes fixed on hers. His breath came hard and fast. She wondered if his blood pressure was as close to the danger zone as her own. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. What did she want? She’d been so convinced that their sex was just meaningless fun to him that his reaction to seeing her with Alex had caught her off guard. Was it possible he wanted more? He hadn’t actually said he felt anything more for her than unbridled lust—which, she had to admit, was still worth a hell of a lot—but there was the way he’d acted so…hurt when she’d insisted to Lexie they weren’t dating. And then the way he’d completely insulted Alex. Was she just seeing what she wanted to see, or was there more? It had been so long since she had opened herself up to a man, she’d be crazy to start with this one. If she let him in and he broke her heart, she’d never be able to put those pieces back together again. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, this man had the potential to obliterate her.
It was impossible to think with him crowding her. She turned her head, refusing to look him in the eye. It didn’t help. With his breath scorching her cheek, rational thought slipped through her fingers like sand through an hourglass.
“I can make you forget about Wall Street,” he swore, the intensity of his words sending a shiver down her spine and melting her resolve.
Cole dropped his mouth to her collarbone, placing a tender kiss on her bare skin and she knew she was a goner. How could she resist him when his soft lips were pressed to the delicate flesh of her neck like that? His mouth lingered and she basked in the intimacy of the act and the unsought connection that seemed to have a will of its own, growing stronger each day. He brought his tongue up along the side of her neck, kissing, tasting, tempting, as he pressed his erection to her belly. Olivia wriggled against his hardness. She was burning up, heat coursing through her body as it begged for more.
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